Prom, Reimagined
by cajungirlkye
Summary: What if the Alpo incident at Prom never happened? Could that night have gone differently? Usual disclaimer: Characters aren't mine, I'm just borrowing them for my own imagination. Story stands alone as a one-shot; however I may continue if/when time allows.


Prom, Reimagined

(What if the "Alpo" incident at Prom never happened?)

Josie Geller walked up to the cake table at the South Glen South Prom after her first dance as Prom Queen. "Is this chocolate?" she asked the server. She nodded her thanks and was just about to take a bite when she heard a voice next to her. "Hey."

She looked up to see Sam smiling at her. "Hi," she chuckled somewhat awkwardly.

"You know, Josie, you make a really beautiful Prom queen," Sam said sincerely.

"Really?" Josie asked, flustered. No one had ever called her beautiful before. "Thanks, so do you." _Wait, what did I just say_? She looked away in embarrassment.

Luckily for her, Sam just chuckled. "You know, I always feel like kind of a goofball in these penguin suits... Like I'm at my own wedding or something."

With the mention of penguins and weddings Josie suddenly had a vision of Sam in a tux waiting for her at the end of an isle, looking at her with such love and affection that it made her heart hurt.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Sam asked, "Do you wanna...?" He gestured toward the couples dancing.

Josie smiled brightly. "Okay." She set her cake down and Sam led her to the dance floor.

They danced in silence for a few moments when Sam said, "You know, it's funny - Proms always make me a little sad. They're so final, you know - graduation, everyone scattering and moving on."

 _But I'm not going anywhere_ , Josie thought.

She tentatively asked, "Is your... girlfriend here?"

"No... no, no. I'm alone," Sam replied. "In fact, um, we... we broke up last week."

"Really? That's funny, because you know, actually 'Prom' comes from 'promenade' and you can't promenade alone, can you?"

Sam chuckled at her joke. "You're amazing, Josie Gellar."

Josie's breath hitched. She couldn't keep lying to him. She had to tell him. Now.

"Have you thought about Darthmouth any?" Sam's eyes searched her own.

Josie nodded. "Yes, and... umm... there's something that I want to tell you." She removed the hidden camera from her dress and disabled it. This was between her and Sam only. Gus and whoever else was watching from the office weren't going to be privy to this conversation.

"There's... There's something I want to tell you too," Sam said nervously.

Josie glanced over at Guy dancing with Aldys and nodded as the song ended. "Let's go somewhere quiet so we can talk."

Sam led her outside to a secluded gazebo around the side of the building. They sat on a bench and Sam took her hand.

"Josie, I -"

"Wait!" Josie blurted. "Before you say anything, let me go first, please." _If you say what I hope you're going to say then you need to know who I really am._

She took a deep breath. "I haven't been completely honest about who I am. I'm... I'm not really seventeen."

Sam shook his head, his eyes widening slightly. "So you're what, sixteen? Because none of that matters-"

Josie shook her head. "Please, just let me get this out." She took a deep breath. "I'm not really a seventeen year old high school student. I'm actually a twenty-five year old reporter for the _Chicago Sun-Times._ "

"You're... what?" Sam said in disbelief and dropped her hand.

"A reporter for the _Chicago Sun-Times_ ," Josie repeated, relieved to finally have told Sam the truth. "I was initiallly sent undercover to write a story about today's high school students. As I got to know you better and we started talking more, my boss eventually wanted me to write an exposé on teacher-student relationships, but I couldn't. I couldn't do that to you - not when I'm not actually a student. I care about you too much." ' _Cause let's face it, you haven't been_ 'Mr. Coulson' _since my second day of class_ , she added silently.

Sam sat in stony silence, staring at his hands.

Josie reached out to touch his arm, then thought better of it and dropped her hand. "I'm so sorry, Sam."

Sam suddenly ran his hands through his hair and stood up. "I can't believe this, I just can't - I need -" He started toward the steps.

"Sam, please don't walk away," Josie said tearfully, standing to go after him. "I hated lying to you - I just couldn't do it anymore."

She cut off as Sam stopped and turned back to face her.

"Was everything -" He swallowed thickly and tried again. "Was _everything_ you told me a lie? Was I just a story to you this whole time? Is Josie even your real name?"

Josie's heart broke at the pained look on his face. She shook her head adamantly. "No, you were NEVER just a story and most of what I've told you is the truth. My name really is Josie Geller - the only things I lied about to you about were my age and the fact that I graduated from Northwestern with a dual bachelor's degree in English and journalism. Everything else I've told you has been the truth."

"You're not really in high school."

Josie shook her head.

"You're twenty-five. You're not seventeen."

Josie laughed tearfully. "I can even show you my driver's license to prove it."

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God."

"You're not angry with me?" Josie asked hopefully.

"Oh I'm plenty angry," Sam said, "but honestly I'm just more relieved that I'm actually allowed to be attracted to you."

"Wait, you really _ARE_ attracted to me?" Josie's heart leaped.

"Damn it, Josie, of COURSE I'm attracted to you. How could I not be?" Sam stepped closer to her. "You're the most beautiful, amazing, intelligent woman I've ever met. You're a brilliant writer and you can quote Shakespeare off the cuff. After getting to know you these past few months, I was willing to throw away my entire teaching career for the chance to be with you."

"But you don't have to," Josie protested. "Can't we just start over?"

Sam shook his head. "I can't do that, Josie."

Josie's heart broke. "Why not?"

"Because if we started over, then I wouldn't be able to do this yet." Sam closed the distance between them and captured her lips with his.

THIS. This was what being really kissed was like. Josie melted against Sam and wrapped her arms around him. Everything else disappeared except for the two of them.

They broke apart and Sam rested his forehead against hers, their panting breaths intermingling. "Josie... I'm in love with you," he said softly. "I tried to fight it - I swore I'd never be one of those creepy teachers that hit on their students, and believe me, that was always easy to avoid until the day you walked into my classroom. Not only did you correctly define 'pastoral', but when you also gave me the origin... My life changed that day. You're beautiful and kind-hearted and funny, and you've made my life so much better just by being part of it."

Josie beamed, then kissed Sam again.

A cough interrupted them and they quickly broke apart.

Rob stood alone on the gazebo steps, looking sheepish.

"Hey, uh, it's -" Sam started.

"It's ok, Sam. He knows," Josie said, giving his hand a squeeze. "In fact... Sam, I'd like you to meet my brother, Rob Geller."

"Your brother? Rob's your brother?"

Rob waved awkwardly. "I guess I, uh, don't have to call you 'Mr. C' anymore, huh?" He chuckled.

Sam looked skyward then back at Josie. "Is anyone else undercover here?"

Josie shook her head. "No, it started out as just me, but then Rob came to help. Although 'Pam' from the sex ed class was actually my friend Anita, but that wasn't planned."

"Uhh... Jos... Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to let you know that Guy is looking for you." He pointed back toward the building. "I offered to come look for you out here in case you were, you know... busy."

Josie shot him a grateful look. "Thanks. I guess we better head back inside." She turned.

"Wait," Sam said quickly.

Josie turned back toward him.

"Actually, do you want to get out of here? Maybe go have a coffee or something?"

Josie smiled. "I'd love that. Let me go say goodbye."

She found Guy, told him that she wasn't feeling well, said goodbye to Kristen, Kirsten, & Gibby then made her way back outside where Sam was waiting for her.

"Ready?" he asked, guiding her towards his car.

Josie nodded. _I've been ready for this my entire life,_ she thought.


End file.
